Reciting numbers and memorizing their names is one thing....
Understanding that those numbers mean a certain amount is a whole nother ball game.
One-to-one correspondence is the ability to match one object to one corresponding number or object.
Each month Mother Goose Time sends some kind of math manipulative and some new number cards.
This month, as we study Winter in the Woods, Sweet Pea received some teddy bear counters along with the "4" and "14"number cards. We only use the 1-10 number cards since Sweet Pea is just 2 years old.
I decided to set up a little math match-up station after her nap and this is what it looked like.
And it was a failure. I had way to much going on.
-Brand new toys (bear counters).
-Number cards she had not really been exposed to before.
-Shape cards she hadn't really been exposed to before either.
When you combine all the above with a 2 year old and start asking her questions...
it's just too much. I was not getting the results from Sweet Pea that I was hoping... such as her placing the bears on the shapes and then counting and picking the right number symbol that went along with the shapes.
It was just too much, and you can see what she did below.
She had fun, but she didn't even play with the bears for very long! I needed to reassess. So we made a deer mask, and I said we would play with the bears again tomorrow.
Round 2: The Next Day aka Bear Day
I had to ask myself 2 questions:
"What is the first thing I want her to learn?"
Answer: I want her to be able to match one bear to one shape... one to one correspondence.
Numerical symbols could come later. So I got rid of the number cards.
Question 2:
"How could I keep her attention longer with the bears?"
Answer: Hide them and make her find them.
Our bear day had us building a den from some brown paper shreds also known as a perfect item to hide plastic bears in.
So while she napped, I set up our math station placing bears in an aluminum pan and hiding them beneath brown paper shreds and only placing our shape cards on her table.
She had a blast finding the bears! And she did exactly what I was aiming for the first day without any problems! I would ask her to place one bear on each shape and she did.
She did great matching one bear to one shape!
We were able to count "One bear on One circle",
"One, Two bears on One, Two triangles", and
"One, Two, Three bears on One, Two, Three stars."
She started losing interest by the time she was getting bears to go on the 4 squares, but she and I both had a lot of fun. I could see her success, and I am so glad I reassessed and changed things up.
My mom's words still ring in my ears now like they did when I was a child,
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
We will definitely try this one again, although I might hide the bears in something different.
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